The proteotranscriptomic characterization of venom in the white seafan Eunicella singularis elucidates the evolution of Octocorallia arsenal
All the members of the phylum Cnidaria are characterized by the production of venom in specialized structures, the nematocysts. Venom of jellyfish (Medusozoa) and sea anemones (Anthozoa) has been investigated since the 1970s, revealing a remarkable molecular diversity. Specifically, sea anemones har...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Open Biology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.250015 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850037668947165184 |
|---|---|
| author | Maria Vittoria Modica Serena Leone Marco Gerdol Samuele Greco Didier Aurelle Marco Oliverio Giulia Fassio Khadija El Koulali Célia Barrachina Sebastien Dutertre |
| author_facet | Maria Vittoria Modica Serena Leone Marco Gerdol Samuele Greco Didier Aurelle Marco Oliverio Giulia Fassio Khadija El Koulali Célia Barrachina Sebastien Dutertre |
| author_sort | Maria Vittoria Modica |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | All the members of the phylum Cnidaria are characterized by the production of venom in specialized structures, the nematocysts. Venom of jellyfish (Medusozoa) and sea anemones (Anthozoa) has been investigated since the 1970s, revealing a remarkable molecular diversity. Specifically, sea anemones harbour a rich repertoire of neurotoxic peptides, some of which have been developed in drug leads. However, venoms of the vast majority of Anthozoa species remain uncharacterized, particularly in the class Octocorallia. To fill this gap, we applied a proteo-transcriptomic approach to investigate venom composition in Eunicella singularis, a gorgonian species common in Mediterranean hard-bottom benthic communities. Our results highlighted the peculiarities of the venom of E. singularis with respect to sea anemones, which is reflected in the presence of several toxins with novel folds, worthy of functional characterization. A comparative genomic survey across the octocoral radiation allowed us to generalize these findings and provided insights into the evolutionary history, molecular diversification patterns and putative adaptive roles of venom toxins. A comparison of whole-body and nematocyst proteomes revealed the presence of different cytolytic toxins inside and outside the nematocysts. Two instances of differential maturation patterns of toxin precursors were also identified, highlighting the intricate regulatory pathways underlying toxin expression. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a6fca32404814d299f772bfbb54ed98d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2046-2441 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-a6fca32404814d299f772bfbb54ed98d2025-08-20T02:56:47ZengThe Royal SocietyOpen Biology2046-24412025-03-0115310.1098/rsob.250015The proteotranscriptomic characterization of venom in the white seafan Eunicella singularis elucidates the evolution of Octocorallia arsenalMaria Vittoria Modica0Serena Leone1Marco Gerdol2Samuele Greco3Didier Aurelle4Marco Oliverio5Giulia Fassio6Khadija El Koulali7Célia Barrachina8Sebastien Dutertre9Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, ItalyDepartment of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, ItalyDepartment of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, ItalyDepartment of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, ItalyAix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO, Marseille, FranceDepartment of Biology and Biotechnology ‘Charles Darwin’, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Biology and Biotechnology ‘Charles Darwin’, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyBioCampus, University of Montpellier, CNRS, INSERM, Montpellier, FrancePlatform MGX, IGF, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, FranceIBMM, University of Montpellier, CNRS, ENSCM, Montpellier, FranceAll the members of the phylum Cnidaria are characterized by the production of venom in specialized structures, the nematocysts. Venom of jellyfish (Medusozoa) and sea anemones (Anthozoa) has been investigated since the 1970s, revealing a remarkable molecular diversity. Specifically, sea anemones harbour a rich repertoire of neurotoxic peptides, some of which have been developed in drug leads. However, venoms of the vast majority of Anthozoa species remain uncharacterized, particularly in the class Octocorallia. To fill this gap, we applied a proteo-transcriptomic approach to investigate venom composition in Eunicella singularis, a gorgonian species common in Mediterranean hard-bottom benthic communities. Our results highlighted the peculiarities of the venom of E. singularis with respect to sea anemones, which is reflected in the presence of several toxins with novel folds, worthy of functional characterization. A comparative genomic survey across the octocoral radiation allowed us to generalize these findings and provided insights into the evolutionary history, molecular diversification patterns and putative adaptive roles of venom toxins. A comparison of whole-body and nematocyst proteomes revealed the presence of different cytolytic toxins inside and outside the nematocysts. Two instances of differential maturation patterns of toxin precursors were also identified, highlighting the intricate regulatory pathways underlying toxin expression.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.250015venomCnidariaOctocoralliatranscriptomicsproteomicstoxins |
| spellingShingle | Maria Vittoria Modica Serena Leone Marco Gerdol Samuele Greco Didier Aurelle Marco Oliverio Giulia Fassio Khadija El Koulali Célia Barrachina Sebastien Dutertre The proteotranscriptomic characterization of venom in the white seafan Eunicella singularis elucidates the evolution of Octocorallia arsenal Open Biology venom Cnidaria Octocorallia transcriptomics proteomics toxins |
| title | The proteotranscriptomic characterization of venom in the white seafan Eunicella singularis elucidates the evolution of Octocorallia arsenal |
| title_full | The proteotranscriptomic characterization of venom in the white seafan Eunicella singularis elucidates the evolution of Octocorallia arsenal |
| title_fullStr | The proteotranscriptomic characterization of venom in the white seafan Eunicella singularis elucidates the evolution of Octocorallia arsenal |
| title_full_unstemmed | The proteotranscriptomic characterization of venom in the white seafan Eunicella singularis elucidates the evolution of Octocorallia arsenal |
| title_short | The proteotranscriptomic characterization of venom in the white seafan Eunicella singularis elucidates the evolution of Octocorallia arsenal |
| title_sort | proteotranscriptomic characterization of venom in the white seafan eunicella singularis elucidates the evolution of octocorallia arsenal |
| topic | venom Cnidaria Octocorallia transcriptomics proteomics toxins |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.250015 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariavittoriamodica theproteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT serenaleone theproteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT marcogerdol theproteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT samuelegreco theproteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT didieraurelle theproteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT marcooliverio theproteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT giuliafassio theproteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT khadijaelkoulali theproteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT celiabarrachina theproteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT sebastiendutertre theproteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT mariavittoriamodica proteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT serenaleone proteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT marcogerdol proteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT samuelegreco proteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT didieraurelle proteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT marcooliverio proteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT giuliafassio proteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT khadijaelkoulali proteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT celiabarrachina proteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal AT sebastiendutertre proteotranscriptomiccharacterizationofvenominthewhiteseafaneunicellasingulariselucidatestheevolutionofoctocoralliaarsenal |